Canada bans Dire Straits song!!!!

[algernon]

Makes one think that people ain't no fun anymore
Every time I watch Monty Python, I can't help but think that if they would start anew, they'd have so many episodes banned today they wouldn't even have a career

 

[bassrique]

YouTube----> "Christopher Hitchens -- Free Speech" = well done

 

[Munjibunga]

Brethern, we must all bow down and worship at the altar of political correctness.
No parody, no comedy, no personal opinions allowed.
There are groups of people that are more important and more easily offended than you and I.
They seek out opportunities to be offended, or claim that your words, your thoughts,
your way of life offends them.

And they will make you conform to thier parodies, their comedy, and their personal opinions.

I'm convinced that soon they will have re-education camps set up for those of us who do not conform.

End of rant.

Four legs good, two legs bad.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
Four legs good, two legs bad.



Two legs good, four legs bad.

 

[MIJ-VI]

Canada has become a nation of boy scouts. It's a matter of time before everyone will be required to wear helmets to protect themselves from everything.

Political correctness has run so bad, that now might be the best time for anyone to emigrate there, regardless of criminal record. It's more important, in Canada to be polite than to stand up say B.S.

How embarrassing for this Canadian.

Aww c'mon. It's not that bad.

 

[bmc]

It is that bad.

It's totally consistent with The Gap chain of stores telling staff they can only say "Season's Greetings" and not "Merry Christmas", and Santa Claus is now refered to as the "man in the red suit." The last part is no lie and comes from a family member that worked in Park Royal in West Vancouver.

How long before we ban the song "I can see clearly now, the rain has gone", because it will make blind people feel allienated. (blind people...what am I saying...Vision impaired people. Yeah that's it. That's the Canadian term.)

Is there not a whole library of crap rap tunes about sex and doin it and gansta etc. That stuff offends me. Maybe if I complain to Ottawa, I can single handedly shut down that line of music access into Canada and give good old rock and roll a better chance.

A nation of boy scouts.

 

[Jonyak]

yay, lets all bash canada. wonder what would happen if I started bashing on the USA?

aside from that its rediculous that they did this. but its not going to effect me in any way as I don't listen to the radio, and if I want to hear this song I can play it uncensored in my house.

 

[MIJ-VI]

I believe that bmc is a Canadian expat who now resides in Switzerland.

Perhaps he's homesick?..

 

[Fishheadjoe]

This whole thing has come about as a result of ONE person in Newfoundland, complaining to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
The CBSC is Not a government group, but an amalgamation of broadcasters who establish what is and what is not up to "Canadian" standards.
They are not voted in by Canadain citizens, they are a group of people who think they know what's best for us!!!
Citizens of Canada, have no say in what they deem to be offensive, outside of complaining to them... those of us who disagree with their decisions, tend to be left out in the cold... so to speak.
To the earlier poster who suggested that we in Canada are only now, getting to know this song, well, most of us up here in the Great White North have been too busy, shovelling snow, to have taken notice, until now!
Fishheadjoe

 

[jumbo_steelie]

It's a simple little volume dip or bleep or whatever and it's only on the RADIO. Youtube it or buy the record or somethin. Personally, the older I get and the more people I here using that word in its most hateful form, I don't mind it being ommitted from the radio.

On the bright side our tv stations can show boobies and other cool swear words when its after dark....soo....yeah.....

 

[squarepeg]

I guess no one has heard this Canadian hit:

Maclean and Maclean

 

[Fishheadjoe]

I guess no one has heard this Canadian hit:

Maclean and Maclean

Canadian Classic! Saw them way back when and still love 'em to this day!
Fishheadjoe

 

[bmc]

Canadian Classic! Saw them way back when and still love 'em to this day!
Fishheadjoe

I too saw them back in the 70's. My girlfriend, back then (now wife), gave me a McLean and McLean cassette when I was in the hospital for abdominal surgery. Nothing feels better than laughing after abdominal surgery. Mean mean thing to do.

And yes...I will bash Canada as a proud passport holder from Canuckistan. If we are never critical of our homeland, we can never work towrds making it better. This is embarrassing.

I wonder if I could get the decision reversed because I'm embarrassed by it. It's worth trying. We've seen lesser decisions fly for dumber reasons.

 

[bmc]

Maybe someone should make the CRTC, or whoever, of this group from Toronto. It's being broadcast on the internet without any filters and I am beside myself with horror.



Give it a good listening.

Have a great weekend folks.

 

[Relic]

I too saw them back in the 70's. My girlfriend, back then (now wife), gave me a McLean and McLean cassette when I was in the hospital for abdominal surgery. Nothing feels better than laughing after abdominal surgery. Mean mean thing to do.

And yes...I will bash Canada as a proud passport holder from Canuckistan. If we are never critical of our homeland, we can never work towrds making it better. This is embarrassing.

I wonder if I could get the decision reversed because I'm embarrassed by it. It's worth trying. We've seen lesser decisions fly for dumber reasons.

I absolutely LOVE Canada, and if I were to chose any country to live in other than my own, it would be Canada. But good god, from my vantage point, the political correctness and such seem to be getting way out of hand up there these days.
But here's the thing - I know and work with plenty of Canadians, and none of them, not a single one, are pleased by all of this sort of thing. It's just the opposite - they hate it. In fact they hate it and claim that everyone that they know are also sick of it...it seems to be a near-unanimous distaste for such things. If this were the case, why the heck does it continue???

 

[bmc]

If this were the case, why the heck does it continue???

Because we're polite. It's more important to be polite to complain.

Canadian's are consensus builders. It could be why we say eh all the time. It is not unusual to see a lot of Canadians in international work becuase of that element of doing what's best for the group. Canada is a socialist nation. We are concerned about our towns, our schools, our health and doing what's best for the community. This is inline with that thinking. IMO

 

[LSquared]

An interesting thread, and remarkably civil (so far)....

While I understand the sensitivity of some folks to the "F-word", I find it kind of ironic in the context of the song. The character starts (and finishes) bemoaning how the "yo-yo's " on MTV get their "Money for nothin' and [their] chicks for free". Their greatest risk is "maybe get a blister on their finger" (is that maybe) a reference to Helter Skelter?).... As opposed to manual labors moving appliances all day.

It would seem obvious that the subsequent f-words not even related to sexual orientation. I suppose radio / TV have been "bleeping" songs for decades, and it's always interesting when things slip by the censors. Everything needs to be rated "G", or maybe "PG"....

Back in the 70's I'd figure AM radio was for the "clean" versions, and FM was where you could hear thew "real" versions. But I suppose it's all different now. I pretty much quit listening to the radio 20 years ago, though, so it's hard for me to say.

 

[GregC]

It is that bad.

It's totally consistent with The Gap chain of stores telling staff they can only say "Season's Greetings" and not "Merry Christmas", and Santa Claus is now refered to as the "man in the red suit." The last part is no lie and comes from a family member that worked in Park Royal in West Vancouver.

How long before we ban the song "I can see clearly now, the rain has gone", because it will make blind people feel allienated. (blind people...what am I saying...Vision impaired people. Yeah that's it. That's the Canadian term.)

Is there not a whole library of crap rap tunes about sex and doin it and gansta etc. That stuff offends me. Maybe if I complain to Ottawa, I can single handedly shut down that line of music access into Canada and give good old rock and roll a better chance.

A nation of boy scouts.

I can't comment on the "man in the red suit" bit, but saying Happy Holidays/Season's Greetings instead of Merry Christmas just makes good business sense these days. The populations of the US and Canada are more ethnically and spiritually diverse than they used to be, and retailers--being in business to make money--want to appeal to the broadest swath of people possible.

As for the rap songs you're complaining about, they get words bleeped out on the radio, too.

 

[Relic]

Because we're polite. It's more important to be polite to complain.

Canadian's are consensus builders. It could be why we say eh all the time. It is not unusual to see a lot of Canadians in international work becuase of that element of doing what's best for the group. Canada is a socialist nation. We are concerned about our towns, our schools, our health and doing what's best for the community. This is inline with that thinking. IMO

Very interesting.. traditionally US culture has had the same concerns but more from an individualistic perspective - better yourself and succeed and you will pull your town, and schools up with you - kind of a diametrically opposed belief system towards the same goals. That's probably why we tend to criticize the hell out of each other

 

[Marlat]

So is the general consensus in this thread that the word f***** when used as a derogatory insult is an acceptable word to be used on broadcast radio at all times?

I'm somewhat surprised by that. Whilst I personally don't have a problem with "curse words" etc being used on the radio (particuarly when they are in songs) and prefer when they are not edited out, I can totally see why parents don't want their kids listening to the radio and hearing curse words. I find it extremely odd that someone would then treat the word "f*****" as any less of an offensive word as "s***" for example (IMO its more offensive). I would have thought that most people (especially parents) would find it unacceptable to have the word "f*****" be allowed on the radio at times when kids could be listening. The fact that it just happens to be in Money For Nothing is just by the by.

 

[FilterFunk]

Assuming you are going to censor offensive words, I don't see why not. I mean just because its an accurate description of what a guy would say back then doesn't mean it should be played, uncensored on public radio (in an evironment where censoring on public radio is the norm). I mean if I made a song from the perspective of me playing a hard level on Call of Duty, you'd have swearwords flying left right and centre in the lyrics. Its accurate, but would you play those lyrics at 5pm on public radio? Probably not.

I don't think Canada is suggesting that the "song" is banned or that it the word can't be used. They are just saying that the word "f*****" isn't acceptable for public broadcast. People (not you in particular) need to bear that in mind. That is the issue here, not the banning of the song generally.

^This. I think it's akin to movies that are "edited for television." I don't see anything wrong with having certain public broadcasting standards. There are more than enough venues where you can see or hear whatever you want, completely unedited and uncensored. Maybe the folks who think that "anything goes" should be the norm in every instance are the reactionaries.